E3 2010: Editors speak! “What was the best thing you saw today”?

We asked, they answered. The most powerful people in gaming spout off for your benefit

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Daydeux of E3 is done. Previous real-time activities transferred into memory files. But good memories. Yes indeed.And what impressed the bigswanky editors as they sped around the showfloor on pimped out Segway's? (Honestly, that's how they roll). In their own words, this is what impressed them...

Gary Steinman - Editor in Chief, PlayStation: The Official Magazine US

“It was a day of huge games and small games, and on this day, the smallest two games won my heart.”

“Yes, Rage might be my game of the show. It’s a tight, focused, incredibly refined yet utterly playable shooter from the folks who invented the FPS. And Homefront stirred my blood with its appeal to my patriotic side (and it looks like an intense shooter to boot). But that’s what we expect from these big fellas, so I wasn’t surprised by either of these games. They’re both tops, sure, but my games of this particular day were the ones that showed me something I had no idea I wanted.”

“My day started with a hands-on with Child of Eden, the long-awaited successor to hardcore darling Rez. The feeling of immersion, even using a controller instead of Kinect, is astounding, merging the player with the music, the visuals, the action. I could’ve stayed and played that game all day long.”

“My other big surprise: Portal 2. And not because of the single-player. I was blown away by a hands-on with the co-op, a completely separate set of levels that take advantage of two players and four portals, challenging me and my partner to think through increasingly complex puzzles. It takes a formula that’s already fun and makes it even better. Amazing stuff.”

Tim Clark – Editor in Chief, Official PlayStation Magazine UK

"The coolest thing I saw today wasn't even a game, it was a tech demo. For performance capture. And yeah, I know, my heart sinks at the thought of unitards and golf balls too – but this stuff is truly astonishing. Developed by Depth Analysis for use in LA Noire, I was shown footage of the actor who plays Ken Cosgrove in Mad Men performing lines from the game. The lip-sync is 1:1 accurate, and makes every other cut-scene you've seen seem clownish. Every skin blemish and wrinkle animates accurately, and the eyes are so lifelike you could see one character slightly tear up as he revealed he might be a murderer. Honestly, in a few years time everyone's going to be using this tech – it's a total game changer.

"Elsewhere, I played and loved Criterion's Need For Speed reboot. Using the radar jammer to disappear off the cops' mini-map just before taking a short-cut felt like some kind of idiot genius. It's going to be huge online. I also really enjoyed Driver San Francisco's crackers brain-swap/car-jump feature and made a tit of myself by asking John Carpenter if he'd be up for making a Halloween game in which you got to play as Michael Myers. Short answer: no."

Ben Wilson – Editor, Official PlayStation Magazine UK

"Game of the day for me is unquestionably Rock Band 3. If you made a wishlist of all the stuff you want from a peripheral-based music game it'd have everything on it and about fifty other things you'd simply never thought of: seven player functionality (three vocalists, bass, guitar, drums, keyboard), full backwards compatibility with RB1, 2, Beatles and Green Day, sortable-in-about-a-hundred-different-ways track selection, and real guitars (made by MadCatz) that enable you to play actual notes and chords in game. In a word: astonishing."

Francesca Reyes – Editor in Chief, Official Xbox Magazine US

“New day of E3 and new games to see and play. And what a crazy day that started off with Mizuguchi's transcendent Child of Eden that looks and plays a lot like it's spiritual predecessor, Rez, but -- if you can believe it -- even more crazy and incredible. Happy to note that it's full of Genki Rockets, too!”

“Highlights of day #2 include a super gory look at the new Mortal Kombat, which should have MK fans pumped since it's really taking the M rating seriously; a dance-off between Harmonix's super accessible Dance Central and Konami's crazy polished looking Dance Masters; quality time with Rock Band 3's pro mode; Method Man and Red Man taking the Konami booth stage by storm for Def Jam Rapstar; and there's still one more day left!”

Jon Hicks – Editor in Chief, Official Xbox Magazine UK

"I thought that Star Wars The Force unleashed 2 was technically very impressive with a surprising level of graphical detail. Some of the force powers were ridiculous, surely you won't be able to do all of them in the game or it'll just be totally unbalanced. Stuff like grabbing massive spaceships of the sky. And Darth Vader turned up and did the heavy breathing act which is always a winner."

Neil Long – Editor in Chief, Official Nintendo Magazine UK

"Today's big events for me have been the frankly astounding Metal Gear 3D tech demo and a Pilotwings Resort on 3DS. Metal Gear was unplayable and showed just a few cut scenes, but was still incredible - in particular a section where Snake advances through a flower- filled field. The depth and quality of both the 3DS' visuals and the pin-sharp screen make for a genuinely amazing viewing experience.”

"Pilotwings Resort is, as the title suggests, set on the now-familiar Wuhu Island. As Miyamoto-san suggested in the developer round-table last night, here the hand-held's 3D capabilities become more of a gameplay tool, as judging distance and height is made much easier. I think it's something that will benefit almost every game - Miyamoto-san used the example of having to jump up to hit a question block in a Mario game like Galaxy, in that sometimes it'll take a couple of attempts to get it right. The added depth that 3D brings means that this is all but eliminated, and in a game like Pilotwings where precision is key, it's a revelation."

Tim Edwards – Editor in Chief, PC Gamer UK

"The coolest thing I saw today by far was a behind closed doors demo of Star Wars The Old Republic. It's everything that World of Warcraft is but with way more features and resources and it looks totally playable already.”

"One of the things I thought was very neat: in WOW, quests are given to you in boring text you have to read, but in The Old Republic there are cut-scenes with characters who talk to you. It's a bit like Mass Effect in that respect: in one scene I had a choice of either torturing a guy to get information or just being nice. Strangely, I took the 'nice' approach and it worked."